Self-cleaning door mat



ec. 12, 1950 T, FALLOWFlELD, JR 2,533,781

SELF-CLEANING DOOR MAT I Filed Nov. 9, 1945 By Raw @mik aaa/#away Hm@ Patented Dec. 12, 1950 SELF-'CLEANING DOOR MAT Thomas Fallowfield, Jr., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Application November 9, 19415 Serial No. 627,551

(Cl. )l-36) 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements inv apparatus adapted for cleaning shoe soles and designed particularly for cleaning the soles ofvshoes of persons entering large buildlike where a large number of people enter the building, and the invention has for its primary object to remove and collect the dirt from the shoes before it is carried into the building and thus save labor in the Way of janitors service and also to protect the door covering of the building and reduce wear thereof by dirt which is usually carried into the building by the shoes of a person.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a shoe sole-cleaning apparatus of this character adapted for mounting at the inside entrance of a building and embodying means for removing dirt from the soles of a persons shoes and conveying the same by suction means to a sui-.table collecting receptacle for future removal and disposal.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efficient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation, as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference beinQV had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan View oi a complete group of the cleaning devices adapted for positioning at the inside entrance of a building',

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of the initial shoe sole cleaning device, and with parts broken away and shown in section, and

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional View taken substantially on a line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and rst with respect to the form of invention illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings, the numeral 5 designates a hous'ng for the cleaning mechanism and which is formed with an open top to provide an open compartment and adapted for recessing in the fioor of a building at the inside of the entrance thereof and with the upper edges of the housing ush with the surface of the floor.

A pair or" rollers l and 8 are journaled in the sides of the housing 5 transversely thereof and adjacent the upper edge of the housing, and on which an endless lexible belt 9 is adapted to slowly travel.

The outer surface of the belt Ei is provided Iwith a covering such as a carpet nap lt, bristles or the like to provide a soft surface for the conveyor of a type to facilitate the cleaning oithe soles or"` shoes of persons' stepping or walking thereon.

The upper ight'o the endless belt 9 i'ssupported between the rollers l and by means of bed rails il supported on transversely extending frame members i2 and on which a plurality of substantially closely-spaced parallel rollers l 3 are journaled in top recesses or grooves l lo. in the surfaces oi the bed rails.

The endless belt is operated in any suitable manner such as by means of a belt l5 extending around a pulley l5 at one end of the roller l and around a pulley il secured to a shaft i8 and driven by a gear i9 from a pinion 2o connected to the shaft of an electric motor 2 l The housng 5 is formed with a vertical, transversely extending partition 22 adjacent the roller l to form a chamber 23 in one end of the housing and in which a dust and dirt collecting tank 23a is removably positioned.

A suction fan 25 is operatively connected to the motor 2l in the chamber 23 with its intake side connected to a suction pipe 24 by means of a exible coupling Bild, the pipe extending to the lower light of the covering lll for the endless belt e to draw dirt and dust from the covering of the endless belt 9 through the suction pipe 24 for discharge into the collecting tank. A flexible coupling 2Gb also connects the discharge end of the ian to the tank. The tank 23o may comprise an electrical dust precipitator of conventional construction.

A rotary brush 26 is operatively mounted in the intake end of the suction pipe in brushing engagement with the lower rlight of the covering ib of the endless belt to remove dirt therefrom, the brush 2li being operated from the motor by a belt 2l.

The chamber 23 is provided with a removable cover 2t for closing the top of the same and opening said chamber so that the tank 23u may be removed when desired.

In Fig. l modified brushing units are shown within the housings 2S and fil. Rotary cylindrical brushes t5 and i5 are arranged longitudinally of, and transversely of, the housings 29 and ill, respectively.

The several units of the device are preferably mounted in the floor at the inside of the entrance to a building in the arrangement as indicated in Figure l, or any one or combination of the units may be installed .at the entrance, if desired, in

position so that persons entering the building may walk on lthe respective cleaning units and have the soles of their footwear cleaned before While in the foregoing there has. beenshown.

and described the preferred embodiment" of` this invention it is to be understood. that1minor.

changes in the details of constructiomcombina.- tion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andv scope of' the invention as claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what I claimv as.- new is:

A: shoe cleaner comprising a housing forming Open top chamber and-a closed chamber adjoining the4 opel-,r top compartment, an endless in the. top* of the open top compartment, rollers supporting said mat, a drive for one of the rollersincuding. a motor in the closed chamber,

a suction pipe extending out of the closed chamber into the open top compartment with one end beneath said mat for drawing dirt from said mat into the closed chamber, a suction fan in said. closed chamber and to which said pipe is connected, said fan being driven by said motor, and a rotary brush in said end of the suction pipe engaging said mat andldriven by` said motor.

THOMAS- FALLOWFIELD, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in thA le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1 823,972 Richardson June 19, 1906 1,359,193 Parker Nov. 16, 1920 1,361,068 Karro Dec. 7, 1920 1,567,832 Broge` Dec. 29,1925

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date. l 178,5113A Germany ,Nov. 16,1906 613,979.r France E Sept; 71926' 622,343 France May 28,1927 

